Wing hunters come to town

A crew making a documentary about the hunt for the best Buffalo-style chicken wings in New York state was favorably impressed with Albany’s wings during a stop in town on Monday.

The troupe raved about the traditional wings they had at Dorato’s in Guilderland, Sutter’s Mill & Mining Co. and the Across the Street Pub, both on Westen Avenue near the UAlbany campus. “We didn’t come to a consensus about the best, because we had votes for all three places from different members of the group,” said Matt Reynolds, who conceived of the project and is producing the documentary. In the photo at right, his own crew’s cameras are shooting Reynolds (in trucker cap, back to camera) being interviewed by Capital News 9 at Bombers Burrito Bar on Lark Street.

The Buffalo wings at Bombers, the fourth stop, were judged not as good as the other three, though still better than almost all of the wings the hunters tried over the weekend in New York City. And Bombers won huge points for its tequila wings, which feature tequila in a medium-heat wing sauce, plus garlic and parmesan.

“These tequila wings are rockin’ good! They’re some of the best non-Buffalo wings I’ve ever had!” exclaimed Ben Beavers, right, who eats competitively under the name Mighty Thor and once consumed 93 wings in 15 minutes. He is the wing- and pizza-eating champion of Rochester and one of seven hunters (plus five crew) making the documentary.

In addition to eating wings, the hunters took a tour on the Aqua Ducks and interviewed Jack McEneny, an Assemblyman and Albany historian, left. A number of the crew apparently speak little English and thus were unclear that the Duck would be giving them a river as well as street view of Albany. As the vehicle roared down the boat-launch ramp at the Corning Preserve, the air was filled with the sound of shrieking Slovaks. According to Reynolds’ blog: “14:00 – hunters take land/sea tour of Albany; Slovaks terrified when amphibious vehicle drives into Hudson.”

The film, called “The Great Chicken Wing Hunt,” is the brainchild of Reynolds, an upstate native and journalist who has lived for almost 10 years in Eastern Europe. He and the crew are traveling across New York, from Manhattan to Buffalo, searching for the best wings and documenting their dining. They expect to enter the film in festivals, and there’s already an agreement to air it on Slovakian TV.

Check out the Web site for details and the movie trailer. Reynolds says raw footage should be on YouTube sometime on Saturday.